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Howdy. I just want to say a few things. I don't really have any partisan viewpoint here to push on you. I'm earnestly just here for those who will listen, to give some reasonable adjustments to expectations that I think are running a little wild.

To start with, this game is not going to be completely different from every game before it, nor will it be a simple clone of past titles. It certainly has some very unique systems. I think the permadeath system is done in such a way that most players, at the very least, will find it a unique change. It's a good mix of persistent progression beyond death and risk, I think. And the stakes are not quite as high as most people fear. Typically, permadeath games are not tuned that you lose enormous amounts of time investment with a single death because these games use survival and the adrenaline rush as a play incentive, not gear or experience grind.

However, as mentioned above, it's not completely different. It's not completely different from WoW or any of the recent slew of manual targeting "action" mmorpg's. Combat is far from fresh. Neither is monster design. Similarly, the appearance of the game isn't anything special. A decent chunk of the diehards who have declared themselves stalwarts of this game will download it upon launch, play for one hour, then come back here and declare that the game sucks because of its art style. I can gaurantee that right now.

Most of all, people need to calm down about how hardcore this game is or isn't. I will start by stating it plainly. By every reasonable looking report I've seen, the PvE component of this game is not very "hardcore", if you define "hardcore" as a punitive level of risk versus reward. Permadeath does not happen all over the place. It's a risk, but a manageable one, and most people who enter into a game like this have some experience of how to deal with such things. You don't have any significant quantity of people who feel their souls are getting crushed by the merciless grind.

So to those of you who find this game mildly compelling but are afraid of it being excessively punitive, you might actually have a place here. Don't write it off.

The bigger question, in terms of judging whether the risk in this game will be palatable to you, will be how the community treats itself. It's difficult to really say for sure. To those of you who know the history of such titles, there is usually a honeymoon period early in the game's life where griefing exists but is restrained, where the game plays more or less "as intended". Eventually, though, people learn how to exploit or mitigate anti-griefing measures, and in short order, it begins to occur in large numbers, primarily to vulnerable new players who aren't aware of how to avoid it. Griefing essentially becomes a metagame for some players, in that they learn how to do it repeatedly with the least possible minimal risk. In certain cases, particularly if it is perceived by the developers that these practices are damaging the game's bottom line, the developers will step in and implement safeguards. This is what happened with Ultima Online. Prior to the Trammel update, the game was bleeding subscribers and griefing was a large complaint. The update more or less split the world into unrestricted PvP and restricted PvP halves. This update appeared to by itself reverse the game's recent trend of subscriber loss (for a short while), and most players migrated to restricted PvP play (essentially all of them).

I can't tell you with any certainty how this process will play out, in this game. Nobody can. History only goes so far. The game is F2P to begin with, which will alter how people treat their accounts and reputations. There are also new dynamics in play that are hard to account for. Large online communities like 4chan and SA can have very large impacts on the play environment in small games, if sufficient numbers decide to jump in.

But if I had to make a personal call, based on what I've seen and heard so far, I don't think this will be a savage PvP wasteland. Honestly, it just doesn't feel like a game which really attracts that kind of player. It's more of a dungeon crawler than the roaming warmongering of a game like Darkfall. Frankly, given the style of the game, if griefing does become too rampant, I think there's a very real chance these developers will simply implement a PvE-permadeath-only server.

That's a very important thing to remember. SOE is using a lot of marketing terms designed to appeal specifically to you. But they're not making a game just for you. They're not trying to satisfy some special ideal you've either imagined lovingly or hated fervently for X years. They're making a game for themselves to make money, and their definition of "niche" title in this case is almost certainly far broader than yours.

And finally, let yourself consider one thing, to spare yourself disappointment. This is a video game, too. If you're here, you have at least some interest in permadeath games. But consider, maybe, that you might like the permadeath philosophy in this title and hate the game for other reasons. As was mentioned earlier, art styles (particularly ones like this) are far from universally appealing. There are also a lot of very interesting design decisions here which some might consider controversial, like a return to RNG for almost all forms of progression. Remember that one campaign in D&D that you played, where you rolled nearly minimum for every hit dice and rolled terrible stats? Yes, that can happen here. There will be a certain level of inequality built into the game purely because of RNG progression. Some people will also simply hate the combat; I can tell you that straight off.

Anyway, I'm here because I've seen the exact same kind of talk being spouted ad nauseum more than few times before when a title like this was in the pipeline. Usually, it served no purpose other to engender either undue cynicism or hope. Just remember, this is only a game. Don't place all your faith, dreams, spiritual energy, hope, etc. in it. Don't assume it's something it's not. Don't ruin it for yourself with your preconceptions of how great it absolutely must be, if you want to play. By the same token, if you don't want to play, if you're simply here as a self-styled expert who is convinced you know in clear absolutes what does and doesn't work, don't ruin it for others by blabbing endlessly that X is definitely wrong and Y is definitely right and Z cannot be done in any circumstances but A and B are perfect.

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It is without a doubt- a bit of a dungeon crawler- you will need to start grinding for XP when you hit level 10- start doing them quests- over and over. ^_^ yuppers. Because this game reminds me of SAO [Sword Art Online] and cause I found my CBT [Sword Art Online Union] [Guild] It drags me deeper and deeper into the game. The story is pretty good and has a very old-school feeling at the start.

Iv never played something like this- which keeps me chained and wanting to log back in. I feel it's cause of SAO- It's just so similar in some ways.- Like Wizardry is code for SAO- like it was meant to be :OOO!!!

Ehem* - The difference between this game and others- is that I fear for my characters death. Whenever I die in the game- which happens quite often- above level 10+ Soloing- I find myself running back to my body alot- to find out IM BEING CHASED BY A GRIM_REAPER O_O AND HE IS TRYING TO REAP MAH SOUL!

I'm not kidding.

The Grim-Reapers in this game are freaking scary, and the music that plays, almost makes me crap myself a bowl of shiatang mushstring soup in my chair.

That small element of fear, and the thrill of running away in a ghostly dimension, being chased by a TALL HOODED FIGURE CARRYING A VERY LARGE SCYTHE OF DOOM O_O>~ Chasing you- as you try to go back to a revival spot. -Shark Music- DUN....Dunnn.. DUN DUN DUN DUN O_O!~ AHHHH!~

Alot more to the game than the GRIM_REAPER/NotsoPermantDeath-YET/Sword Art Online - but these are just a little snippets of why I like the game. ^_^

Did I mention- it's fun too? :3 Took a 4-day break- came back, and still had fun.Give it a try- you may just like it. :p [IF YOU LIKE SAO] MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!~ jkjk...Gonna go back to SAO now- er I mean Wizardry. :p hehe.

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It feels really clunky. Not sure if it's the animations, or the controls, or what but I can't do it.

However, the intro video was pretty fucking intense. Then when I jumped into character creation and saw all those little "cutesy" japanime characters it took me from feeling pumped (partly from the death metal music) to... wuh?

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I just want to point out a few things. Nothing about the original series was particularly unique, they stole monsters and spell ideas from every RPG ever, classes were straight D&D typical, and the interface was draconian in the extreme. But you know what? It also carried with it a sense of accomplishment that none of its contemporaries could see with binoculars! 800+ hours and you might finish Knight of Diamonds, but you lost people along the way, good people, righteous people. Call me an old fogey, but the Nintendo era Wizardry games took much more than a few hours to beat, had a similar brutal death schema, and this game delivers on nostaglia as well as challenge.

I am understanding of the OP's MMO-player perspective, but this isn't a Korean-made grinder or a Blizzard money grab; its Wizardry. All games designated "mmos" dont have the same central goals or audiences. This is table top gaming come alive, just like the original series: not every character will be made equal, not everyone is entitled to make it to the end, and its definately not Ultima Online. My suggestion would be to stick to WOW, this game isn't for everyone.